Mother, Dearest
by toxicbarb
Summary: There is a fine line between genius and insanity; but, she had no qualms about crossing it. Rated M for later chapters.


**author's note:** This story strays from the path of the normal time-line. Seeing as I have yet to finish reading the manga, I'm not sure what goes on after Medusa was killed off in the anime. I do know, however, that she managed to take over Arachne's body; so yes, this Medusa has black hair. Please, bear with me if my facts aren't completely correct and enjoy the story for what it is: an insane rambling from my sleep deprived mind.

That being said, Atsushi Okubo owns all of the SE goodness that you find here; not I.

* * *

The round orb of the tired sun sank blissfully into the horizon, taking with it the intense heat that it cast down upon the earth below it. In it's place, the grinning moon arose into the inky night sky, it's manic gaze looking to the area below. Death City was abnormally quiet, the light from the street lamps bathing the empty pavement in their fluorescent glow. From within the shadows of an abandoned alleyway, a figure rose; turning this way and that before signaling with a nod to the secondary figure that rose behind it. Arms extended to grasp the edges of the dark hood, lifting the material upwards to cover her equally dark hair. Golden hues glittered as the serpant witch Medusa slanted her gaze to the smaller witch beside her. She didn't have to speak to have the other cowering in fear, it was clear she was angry and it was clear that the other witch was the cause of that.

"E ~ ru ~ ka...~" She murmured, her tone quiet, yet full of menacing venom. Eruka gulped and emitted a small "gecko".

"Y-yes... Medusa?" Turning, she stepped closer to the young witch, causing the other to back up to the brick wall behind her; attempting to flatten her body out completely. It had been her on guard when the alarm had gone off, signifying that there had been a break out. Eruka cursed her rotten luck. Now she was going to have to work extra hard in order to stray back into Medusa's favour. She may not like working with the conniving witch, but being on her "good" side was better than being in her line of fire. She had seen what Medusa does to the ones that do not obey her. As much as she loved her friend Mizune, she wasn't about to follow in her foot steps.

"...It is your fault that my experiment escaped from my laboratory. If you fail tonight in recovering it..." She trailed off for a moment, her grin growing wide and snake-like in countenance. "...I'll have every serpent left over in your body explode in the most painful way possible. Is that understood?" Eruka's eyes widened and she nodded vigorously, almost causing the orange tadpole-like hat upon her head to fall off. With a small swirl of smoke, the witch disappeared, transforming herself into her frog familiar. Back legs coiled tightly, signaling she was going to hop away when the naked foot of Medusa slammed down upon her head, toes running against the frog's slick backside. "One more thing..." Eruka croaked and turned her head slightly to gaze back at the other witch.

"Y-yes, Medusa...?" She squirmed beneath the foot, afraid that at any moment, she'd apply more weight and crush her. Just the image of her innards popping out of every orifice in her body caused her to shudder, uttering another timid croak. The taller witch stayed silent, continuing to squish Eruka beneath her foot, a pleased sigh escaping her lips. "Ah... I forgot how good this felt. Perhaps I should start keeping frogs in my laboratory for when my experimenting gets too stressful. This is a wonderful way to relax..." It had almost seemed like she had forgotten what she was going to say to her, until she pressed down a little harder, causing Eruka to emit a noise of distress. "Bring that experiment back to me alive. It is no use to me dead, understood?" Eruka nodded fervently. "Yes, yes! Gecko." Medusa raised her foot, and the Eruka frog quickly hopped away, disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway.

As soon as the other was gone, Medusa eased herself out from between the buildings, making sure to keep out of the lamp lights. Even with her soul protection, she didn't want to take any chances of being discovered before that experiment was found. Bare feet were silent as she walked down the sidewalk, eyes always on the look out. Delays, delays. Always with the delays. Her patience was wearing thin with the incompetence around her. She would have sent Eruka by herself, but she doubted that the frog witch could have handled the task. Perhaps if Crona was still with her... The thought caused her to sigh irritably. Another failure under her belt with that experiment. While she was able to find out what she needed to know by testing the black blood upon Crona, she was unable to kill the child after the experiment was complete. It would have made things so much easier... but, no. Crona had fled to Shibusen. Problems and delays. Her life was full of them.

This, did not surprise her, however. No one understood her vision. Even Stein, with his inquisitive mind, could not see past the small details for the bigger picture that was erected behind it. The path she chose to walk, she walked alone. She wasn't bothered by it. Some saw her as insane, but the line between insanity and genius was so thin. Others saw her as evil, but all she did was for the sake of science. She, by nature, was curious and needed to slake that curiosity with knowledge. Turning a corner, movement caught her eye. Ah... so there it was. Crouching down, she held out her hand and offered the experiment a smile. "Come on now... You've been quite naughty, hm? We need to get you home... Mother isn't done with you, yet."


End file.
